Climate Change

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to secure a legally binding climate change treaty to which all countries can be party.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My right honourable friend the Prime Minister has said that he will lead a global campaign for a legally binding treaty as soon as possible. We are working hard through a range of bilateral and multilateral channels (including the formal LNFCCC process) to build support for this.

Climate Change

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to inform the public about their and other G7 countries' stance on agreeing a binding climate change agreement.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The "Act on Copenhagen" website is our primary tool for communicating with the public. We are continuing to publish on the website articles about the outcomes of Copenhagen and the ongoing process to agree a legally binding agreement.
	My right honourable friend the Secretary of State hosted a post-Copenhagen Q&A event with stakeholders, campaigners and youth groups in London in December 2009 and made a Statement on the outcomes of Copenhagen to the House of Commons on 5 January, which I repeated in this House.

Elections: Local Government

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have to increase the number of candidates at future local government elections from among young people, women and black and ethnic minorities, following the figures for the 2009 local elections.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The Government are taking a range of actions to increase the number and diversity of councillors. These include the following:
	the Communities and Local Government funds the Leadership Centre for Local Government to roll out London Councils' "Be a Councillor" campaign across the country; BAME Women Councillors' Taskforce was set up in 2008 to address underrepresentation of BAME women. The taskforce aims to raise awareness of the role of a councillor and to support BAME women into councillor roles through delivery of a national mentoring and shadowing scheme. The taskforce reported in October 2009, making recommendations to government, strategic partners and political parties. The Government will be responding to the report's recommendations shortly;Communities and Local Government is funding a local councillor shadowing scheme as part of the Department for Children, Schools and Families' wider Youth of Today programme. Young people work alongside councillors to learn leadership skills, have their say and make a positive difference to their local community. The scheme aims to bring young people close to understanding how decisions are made and inspire a new generation of leaders;Communities and Local Government is funding Operation Black Vote (OBV) under the Empowerment Fund. OBV will receive a total grant of £250,000 to further develop it National MP/Leadership scheme, allowing 50 individuals a unique opportunity to gain insight into the civic and political arena. The 50 shadows will be expected to work with their communities, with the hope that they would reach about 100,000 people, inspiring more BME councillors, MPs, activists and leaders in the community. The programme will run over three years; andCommunities and Local Government is also funding OBV under the Tackling Race Inequalities Fund (TRIF) programme. OBV will receive £271,228 over two years until March 2011. The project will engage public sector workers, trade unionists, community leaders, councillors and students to ensure that they are more politicised and better organised, and broaden civic involvement from increasing voter registration to taking up posts as elected representatives.

Forced Marriage

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the report of the review by the Ministry of Justice of measures to combat forced marriages, as reported in the Guardian on 9 January.

Lord Bach: The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 (the Act), received Royal Assent in November 2007 and was implemented in November 2008. The Act is a hugely significant step forward in tackling the harmful practice of forced marriage and protecting the rights of women, in particular, but of all individuals to choose whom and when to marry.
	The policy paper One Year On, which provides an early review of the impact of the Act in the first year of operation, was published in November 2009. The policy paper is now on line at http://www. justice.gov.uk/publications/10508.htm.
	Since implementation of the Act on 25 November 2008 up to 31 December 2009 a total of 107 forced marriage protection orders (FMPOs) have been made.

Government: Office Equipment

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Barbara Follett, on 9 December 2009 (Official Report, Commons, col. 390W), what was the average purchase price, excluding value added tax, of a 500 sheet ream of white A4 80 gsm photocopier paper paid by the Northern Ireland Office in the latest period for which figures are available.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The average price paid across the Northern Ireland Office is currently £2.48 per 500 sheet ream of white recycled A4 paper.

Government: Referendum on Independence for Scotland

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether any referendum on independence proposed by the Scottish Government is within its powers.

Lord Brett: No such proposals have been brought forward.

Government: Referendum on Independence for Scotland

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the First Minister and other Scottish Ministers in the Scottish Government about the legislative competence of the proposed Bill on a referendum on independence.

Lord Brett: None.

Health: Expenditure

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government what the NHS expenditure was in cash and real terms on (a) acute hospital services, (b) mental health trust services, (c) general practitioner medical services, and (d) Primary Care Trust community services, for each year from 1996-97 onwards; and what proportion of total NHS expenditure those service areas represented in each of those years.

Baroness Thornton: The information has been placed in the Library.

Health: Haematology

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the cost to NHS providers of the withdrawal of the CoaguChek S Warfarin test equipment and its replacement with CoaguChek XS.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the advantages to patients and the National Health Service of the withdrawal of CoaguChek S equipment and its replacement by CoaguChek XS.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultation took place with the National Health Service on the withdrawal of CoaguChek S equipment and its replacement with CoaguChek XS.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will discuss with medical supply companies whether CoaguChek S strips for blood sampling can be procured from alternative sources of supply following the ending of CoaguChek S strip supplies by Roche Diagnostics.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Thornton on 5 January (WA 51), why the National Health Service can accept the withdrawal by Roche of CoaguChek S strips and equipment and its replacement by alternative equipment without being satisfied following tests that CoaguChek S equipment is not an accurate means for the testing of blood.

Baroness Thornton: CoaguChek XS is supplied by Roche and is an incremental upgrade of CoaguChek S.
	Three documents evaluating CoaguChek S and CoaguChek XS are available on the National Health Service Purchasing and Supply Agency (NHS PASA) website (www.pasa.nhs.uk). They are entitled:
	"Patient self-testing using the Roche CoaguChek S" (MHRA 04002);"Patient self-management using the CoaguChek S" (Report 05050); and"CoaguChek XS System" (Report 06034).
	In addition, both items of equipment are featured in a Centre for Evidence-based Purchasing buyers' guide, which is also available on the NHS PASA website. This document is entitled "Point of Care Coagulators for Monitoring Oral Anticoagulation" (CEP 07026).
	Copies of all four documents have been placed in the Library. The links to these documents are as follows:
	www.pasa.nhs.uk/pasa/Doc.aspx?Path=%5bMN%5d%5bSP%5d/NHSprocurement/CEP/POC/MHRA%2004002.pdfwww.pasa.nhs.uk/pasa/Doc.aspx?Path=%5bMN%5d%5bSP%5d/NHSprocurement/CEP/POC/Report 05050.pdf www.pasa.nhs.uk/pasa/Doc.aspx?Path=%5bMN%5d%5bSP%5d/NHSprocurement/CEP/POC/Report%2006034.pdf; andwww.pasa.nhs.uk/pasa/Doc.aspx?Path=%5bMN%5d%5bSP%5d/NHSprocurement/CEP/POC/CEP07026.pdf 
	The department understands that this equipment is purchased directly by patients or may be provided to them at local level by the NHS. Information about costs to the NHS is not held centrally.
	The department is unaware of any formal commercial arrangements in place between the NHS and the supplier and therefore the company will not have been required to make any formal requests to the NHS or patients to switch from the old to the new meter.
	The department is unaware of any discussions held with the manufacturer and has no plans to discuss this product with medical supply companies.
	This corrects the information given to the noble Lord on 5 January 2010 (Official Report, col. WA 51).

Housing: Hyde Group

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the Hyde Group's report Where are tomorrow's heartlanders?

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My right honourable friend the Minister for Housing and Planning has welcomed the Hyde Group's report as an important and timely contribution. The report challenges perceptions that communities in social housing are "broken" or helpless, and shows how communities can be strengthened by the active involvement of tenants who know they are secure in their homes with long-term tenancies.

Local Government: Finance

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the system of three-year settlements for local authorities will continue following the current settlement ending in 2010-11; and whether they will consider whether future settlements should be on a rolling basis, updated each year for the following three years.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Three-year settlements, introduced by this Government, have been very well received by local government. The Government have no current plans to change the basis on which settlements to local authorities are made.

NHS: Foundation Trusts

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government why they are requiring the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust to make £50 million savings over the next three years.

Baroness Thornton: The department has not required the East Lancashire Hospitals National Health Service Trust to make £50 million savings over the next three years. I understand that this is an estimated figure, calculated by the trust itself.

Northern Ireland: Equality Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 14 December (WA 183), why the Equality Commission's guidance to employers on monitoring employees and applicants for employment is not used for public appointments made by the Secretary of State.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The "residuary method" of monitoring, as defined in the Equality Commission's guidance, can be used by employers in certain circumstances to determine the community background of individuals for the purposes of the monitoring requirements contained in Part VII of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998. The Specification of Public Authorities Order 2004 determines the extent to which these requirements apply to particular bodies. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is not listed as a public authority in the 2004 order for monitoring purposes and therefore the monitoring requirements set out in the 1998 order do not apply to public appointments made by him.

Parking

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House (a) a copy of the head of the National Parking Adjudication Service's advice to local authorities on the High Court ruling that penalty charge notices should contain the date when the document was issued and the date when the offence took place, (b) a list of recipients of that advice, and (c) the list of the 80 authorities that the National Parking Adjudication Service's annual report listed as having disregarded that advice; on whose authority she was writing; and whether the advice was provided to appellants with hearings pending.

Lord Adonis: The Department for Transport does not hold such information. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal (formerly the National Parking Adjudication Service) is independent of the Government.

Pensions

Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for an information campaign to discourage employees from opting out of the personal accounts occupational pensions scheme to be introduced in 2012.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The Government believe that it is important that individuals can access information about their pension options. The department has commenced its communications campaign for working-age people, covering state pension changes that come into effect this April, and will move on to cover workplace pension changes and the option of longer working to help people to plan and save for later life. It is for the individual to decide whether to remain in the qualifying pension scheme to which they are automatically enrolled.

Railways: East Coast

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the values of the remuneration packages of the 10 highest paid employees of East Coast.

Lord Adonis: Staff remuneration is an operational matter for East Coast. I understand that the accounts of East Coast, which will include information on board remuneration, will be published in due course.

Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act 2005

Lord Haworth: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many protected sites were designated under Section 12 of the Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 on 1 January 2010.

Lord West of Spithead: Sixty-four sites have been designated under Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. A full list of all these sites can be found on the Home Office website at http://security.homeoffice.gov.uk/legislation/current-legislation/terrorism-act-2006/criminal-trespass-sites.

Sport: Counterfeit Tickets

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take concerning the sale of fake tickets for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Lord West of Spithead: The sale of unauthorised tickets for regulated football matches, including the 2010 World Cup, is a criminal offence under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. The sale of unauthorised tickets, both genuine and fake, has been and will continue to be the subject of police monitoring and investigations. Supporters should be aware that only tickets purchased from authorised vendors can be presumed genuine.
	The Home Office and the police are working with FIFA, the South African Police Service and the FA to combat the sale of counterfeit tickets and otherwise to minimise opportunities for organised ticket touts to operate in connection with the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Visas

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government for which college and course Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab unsuccessfully applied for a student visa to attend; and whether that college has ceased to be accredited by the UK Border Agency.

Lord West of Spithead: I refer the noble Lord to the Home Secretary's Statement to the House of Commons of 5 January 2010 (Official Report, Commons, col. 28).